LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alex Bregman drove in the game-winning run in the 11th inning and the Houston Astros beat Los Angeles 6-5 Sunday despite squandering a three-run lead on a night the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman collected his 2000th hit.
Bregman’s leadoff single to left field scored Mauricio Dubón from second. Ryan Pressly (2-2) got credit for the win, and Houston avoided a three-game sweep.
Jeremy Peña and José Abreu hit two-run homers, Hunter Brown threw six strong innings, and the Astros won for just the seconds time in nine road games.
Freeman had two doubles to reach the hits milestone and Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but the Dodgers couldn’t rally for the second straight game. Yency Almonte (3-1) took the loss.
Los Angeles tied it up with three runs in the eighth off reliever Rafael Montero, starting their push when Freeman drove in Betts by becoming the 295th player in major league history to record 2,000 hits.
Will Smith then blasted a two-run shot to deep center to tie the game at 4.
Houston’s Corey Julks led off the 10th with a double to right that scored Peña. In the bottom half of the inning, a sacrifice fly by Betts scored Miguel Rojas and tied the game at 5.
Smith looked as if he might tie it up again in the 11th, but Dubón made a diving grab behind second base to deny him a hit. Seth Martinez got David Peralta to ground out to end the game, picking up his first save.
Peña put the Astros ahead in the second, launching a hanging splitter by Tony Gonsolin 418 feet into center field after Chas McCormick drew a walk and stole second to start the inning. It was Peña’s ninth homer of the season and gave him a hit in 10 of his past 12 games.
After Kyle Tucker opened the fourth with a ground-rule double, Abreu pounced on the first pitch he saw for his fifth homer, four of which have come in June. It was nearly identical to Peña’s, a splitter sent 412 feet into center.
Houston is 38-9 when scoring at least four runs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: IF Jose Altuve did not play Sunday after hurting his heel running out a bunt single on Saturday. … LF Yordan Alvarez (oblique strain) hit in the batting cage for the second straight day. “He said he felt pretty good,” manager Dusty Baker said. ”He ran, he threw. These are things that bother you when you got a bad oblique.”
Dodgers: OF Chris Taylor was placed on the injured list Sunday, retroactive to Thursday, with a bone bruise in his right knee. … 3B Max Muncy is set to return from an injured left hamstring on Tuesday to begin a three-game series at Colorado. He has not played since June 11.
UP NEXT
Astros: LHP Framber Valdez (7-5) will start on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series at St. Louis. Valdez has gone at least seven innings in nine of his 15 outings.
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (9-4) gets the nod on Tuesday to start a three-game series at Colorado. Kershaw is 3-0 with a 1.33 earned run average in four starts this month.
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